The incessant crashing of the waves on the massive reef created a thunderous roar which the 17 Tongan men had to endure on a 24-hour basis.
It was some surreal kind of torture, with the exhausted men stranded for three long months on a treacherous reef with the Pacific Ocean all around them.
Critically, rescue lay hundreds of kilometres away on the nearest landmass.
How did the Tongan men arrive in their watery prison and how were they to win in a battle with the massive Pacific Ocean and live to see their beloved homeland and families again?
In the first in a series on the Minerva Reef saga, The Sunday Times takes you back to July 4, 1962 when the Tongan men set sail for New Zealand on board the vessel Tuaikaepau, a 20-tonne cutter, 51 feet (16 m) long vessel built by Logan Brothers of Auckland, New Zealand and launched in 1903.
The ship was meant to take the men on a routine trip to Auckland but they were unaware the journey would end in one of the most amazing survival stories the world has ever seen.
Tuaikaepau, which translates “slow but sure” in Tongan, was led by an extremely competent seaman, Tevita Fifita (Captain) who stood over two metres.
According to author Olaf Ruhen, Captain Fifita “was the kind of person who inspired confidence in others”, while others described him as a giant among men.
Other crew members on this fateful trip comprised Tevita Uaisele (carpenter), Fine Feuiaki (engineer), Ve’etutu Pahulu (mate), Sateki Fifita (deckhand, captain’s son), Talo Fifita (deckhand, captain’s illegitimate son and Sione Lousi (deckhand).
Most of the passengers on board were Tongan boxers keen on visiting Auckland where they hoped to find new opponents to fight.
The ship’s passengers comprised of Fatai Efiafi, (widower) Vaiangina Unga (copra planter), Viliame Fa’onuku (carpenter), Teiapa’a Bloomfield (taxidriver), Soakai Pulu (boxer/coach), Fetaiaki Pulu (boxer), Sione Sikimeti (boxer), Sipa Fine Sekona(boxer),Finau Laione Sekona (boxer) and Saia Peni (boxer).
On that July day in 1962, they set off for New Zealand, although from the onset of the journey things started to go wrong.
Shortly after leaving the harbour, it was discovered they had no torch and returned to shore until someone threw them a torch. Shortly afterwards they also found they did not have the correct chart.
After examining his charts Captain Fifita Tevita decided they could make it anyway, and they continued their voyage.
The Tuaikaepau stopped briefly at the island of Ata, south of Tongatapu, before continuing on to New Zealand.
According to Olaf Ruhen in his book Minerva Reef, minutes before the ship hit the reef, most of the crew were below deck listening to Tongan songs on Tonga Radio.
“One or two had turned in, but most were responding to their loved melodies,” read an excerpt from the book.
“Johnny Lusi took the helm about this time. The wind had freshened to such an extent that Tuaikaepau was driving along at about seven knots; the sea had also risen and they were knifing through a maelstrom of curling crests.”
According to accounts provided to Ruhen by the Tongans, the moon was in its third quarter and “lay dead ahead in the western sky, and the brilliant shimmer it threw back from of the white horses was blinding”.
“The storm , together with the dark sky, definitely enabled the captain to miscalculate our position (knowing the captain as a man of exceptional navigational skills and vast experience, it would take something extraordinary to affect him, also we have made many trips back and forth through these waters),” recalled Fine Feuiaki in areport published in an article titled Heroes of Minerva Reef by Loseli Ma’ukie Hafoka..
Speaking to a journalist shortly after being rescued Captain Fifita said: “When we were smashed on the reef which we missed seeing because of a trick of the moon, I knew we were in a dangerous position.
“In the first minute I knew we were on Minerva and I knew that was bad.
“The noise of passage joined with the amplified music to mask any sound presaging danger ahead.
“Johnny was thirsty. He called to Talo Fifita, also on watch to hold the wheel a few seconds while he went below for a glass of water.”
A few seconds after Talo Fifita took the wheel at around 10pm on July 6 the vessel hit the outer edge of the great reef, a moment which effectively sealed their fate in one of the most isolated spots in the massive Pacific Ocean.
“In a flash Captain Fifita was on deck as the ship continued to be battered by the waves on the reef.
“David immediately went below again, told every man to put on his lifebelt, to go on deck and forward to the mast, to hold on there, and on no account to act in any other way without a direct order.”
The last man at the mast and on deck was Sipa Fine who was struggling with sea-sickness.
In the ensuing mayhem of sea-spray, shouts and the sudden jolting movements of a boat being pummelled by waves on a reef, two men — Teiapa Bloomfield and Ve’etutu Pahulu — were thrown overboard into surf and by some miracle were hauled back into the stricken vessel by their comrades.
All throughout that night the men clung to their battered ship until they spotted the hulk of a Japanese fishing vessel that had run aground on the reef two years earlier.
The captain ordered everyone to hold onto the mast for their very survival.
“Tevita Fifita knew that we were in trouble and ordered everyone to remain calm and try to hold on to the mast of the ship,” recalled. As I can remember, it was so uncomfortable and terrifying as the wind was still blowing strongly, the rain slashing our faces and we were surrounded by darkness. It was also very cold,” recalled Feuiaki.
“When morning light came and we could see the Japanese ship I knew we were safe for a little while,” Fifita stated.
Prayers were said by all the men throughout the night led by Captain Fifita ,who was a man of faith, and whose strong character and leadership qualities held the men together in their darkest moment “As we were stranded on the reef awaiting daylight, I thought that no one was not contemplating dying. Throughout the night, I honestly believed that the cold wind, water splashing on us, and the fear of what might happen to us, would overpower everyone’s will to survive,” Feuiaki continued.
“Still dark, and on the reef, almost everyone was wondering what the reef was like. I use the word almost, because the captain was probably the only one that knew the name this reef. The moment we struck the reef Tevita Fifita knew without any doubt that it was Minerva Reef but waited for someone to ask. When asked about the name of the reef, Tevita without hesitation said, “Minerva Reef’.”
The men managed to hold on until daylight broke and the true extent of their fate became increasingly apparent.
They were trapped on a reef hundreds of miles away from any assistance.
“At dawn on Sunday morning, two of the crew yelled out, “An islan, an island in that direction.
“Tevita quickly diffused any confusion or false hopes by declaring: “No, there is no island, anywhere near this place, it must be another boat stranded as we are on the reef.
“As more daylight appeared we could see that (the so called island pointed by the two crew members) was in fact a sunken ship and not an island as we would have dearly liked it to be. Tevita sent two crew to check out the sunken ship. We were wondering whether it would be possible for shelter while waiting for any search or rescue mission by the Government of Tonga. The ship was about a mile from where we landed on the reef.”
In an interview after their three-month ordeal Captain Fifita said the wrecked Japanese hulk spared the men from sure death.
“Without that ship we perhaps could have lived for two weeks on a raft made from the boards of the Tuaikaepau and then would have come the end,” the captain said.
For now though, Captain Fifita worked to ensure they would have enough food and shelter as supplies were lost in their wrecked vessel.
The men managed to salvage whatever timber they could get from the boat and pile it on the reef as these materials would be vital to their eventual rescue months ahead.
The morning after the disaster some of the men made an initial scoping mission of the reef and the Japanese vessel.
“It was now low tide, everyone was relieved to have a walk around stretching their legs and muscles. The two crew came back with the good news that the ship was still in good condition inside, suitable for shelter,” said reported Feuiaki.
“It was probably a Japanese fishing ship that suffered the same tragedy as ours. Tevita and most of the crew went to the ship while three others and myself waited for hide tide so that we could drag the bundles of timber gathered from our ship to our new shelter.
“Originally, the idea behind collecting the timber was to build a small kind of fishing raft or for any other useful purpose. I was even thinking of building perhaps a small raft or boat so that some of us might go back to Tonga and get help.”
* Next week: How the men survived for three months.
